Why is medical malpractice not reported more often?

The Civil Justice Resource Group found that only about 2.9 percent of victims of medical malpractice will actually file a claim. What’s even more surprising is that only about 5 percent of those that file a claim will receive a payment of some sort.

Why are the numbers so low? People want to believe that when they go to the hospital, they are going to get better. However, there are three areas where the processes used in a hospital can affect you negatively. These are the failures of actual treatment, the failures of implementation and the failures of process and procedure. Medical records are covered under the failures of process and procedure. Errors are often found in these records, resulting in the wrong medication being order, the wrong surgery being performed and more.

Implementation deals with whether a physician made the right call in relation to your injury or illness. Was your illness or injury misdiagnosed? Was the right testing done? Did you get the right treatment?

The third deals with if the information was interpreted and evaluated properly. Was a surgery done incorrectly?

Patients who file lawsuits for medical malpractice want to know why their illness or injury was made worse, who is at fault and how they can keep the mistake from happening again.

Medical malpractice cases are very expensive due to their length and complexity. The awards are generally larger because of this as well.

If you are injured by medical negligence, then you should keep notes of your medical situation, as well as videos and pictures. This proof can be very beneficial to you in court when you are trying to show what has happened.

An experienced medical negligence attorney can help you understand your legal options.

Source: syracuse.com, “Medical malpractice: what it is, and why it isn’t reported more frequently,” accessed April 15, 2016